Dorset Council’s registration services have conducted 46 marriages and civil partnerships in the three days running up to lockdown. A Dorset record!

The registrars contacted all the couples who had ceremonies booked within the next four-weeks to let them know that these could not go ahead.

The couples were offered the chance to bring their ceremony forward to Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday this week.  In total, they brought forward 19 ceremonies to take place before the new restrictions came into effect on Thursday. 

By the end of Wednesday, they conducted a whopping 40 marriages and civil partnerships in the Register Office.  On Tuesday and Wednesday they held 15 back-to-back ceremonies from 9:15am to 7:45pm.  It is the most that the Dorset service have ever completed in a single day.

They also conducted six ceremonies at external licensed venues.

Cllr Jill Haynes, Dorset Council Portfolio holder for Customer & Community Services, said:

“A fantastic achievement for the whole team. Everybody willingly stepped into the breach at such short notice to make this happen. 

“The couples are very pleased and grateful that we have been able to accommodate them – even if they only had a few hours’ notice that they were getting married.

“Also, thank you to our venue partners who have been so accommodating.”

The majority of the ceremonies that have been impacted by the new lockdown have been rescheduled.

Details of Dorset Council services affected by the lockdown can be found at www.Dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/coronavirus